The Half-Life 2 episode you never saw

ValveTime.net posted a trove of files from an anonymous source showing unfinished work from Warren Spector’s Junction Point Studios. The idea was that studios like Junction Point and Arkane would contribute episodes to further the story and maybe even finish the saga.

An industrial area near a river:

A snowy version of Ravenholm:

Part of City 17:

Unfortunately, the episode plan fell apart. Valve was shifting to its services business model while Warren Spector was being wooed by Disney to work on Epic Mickey.

The fact that the series ended on episode 2 is perhaps the biggest crime in gaming.

Ehh, fuck it. I waited a long time for a resolution to Half Life. Valve seem intent on being jerks about it and teasing everyone for the rest of eternity, so fuck them too. This should be considered up there with Duke Nukem Forever on the list of all time greatest game developer fails. All this time and absolutely nothing to show fans who were loyal in the early days and got them where they are now. All goodwill burned. Way to go Gabe.

Well that’s a bit harsh. Personally, I’m sad that all those talented designers, making amazing games like HL2 and Portal, are either working on Steam or figuring out ways to sell cosmetic crap in DOTA2. All that talent sitting fallow. You’d think they’d quit and work somewhere else, but since Valve is reportedly such a great place to work, they probably stuck around out of loyalty.

That is downplaying Dota 2 a bit. Its an insanely complex game that is constantly getting tweaked and reworked. Its probably my number 2 game in my life in terms of hours spent after WoW.

Oh I know it’s very popular. It’s just not a game I personally care about. It’s not at all like the brilliant single-player narrative experiences Valve used to create.

After turning Team Fortress into the carnival of stupidity that is TF2 I’m not terribly eager to see where they go with Half-Life. I’m content with just replaying the original along with Opposing Force every year.

Yeah, TF2 is another great point. I loved TFC. And TF2 at first, too. Then I quit playing it for like 6-12 months, came back, and they had completely ruined the game I enjoyed. Wtf are all these stupid hats and goofy weapons and stuff? Who thought that was a good idea???

The people raking in millions of dollars a year.

I thought once millenial geeks made their billions they were supposed to work on their passions.

^^^^^

Valve never used to be the kind of company to ruin one of their games in pursuit of making a buck. Guess that has changed since the old days?

Obviously that is happening, to some degree at least. Valve’s not going to produce another Half-life or Portal or anything like it, ever, under the current management.

Half-Life is one of my top 3 games of all time but honestly, I don’t really care if they ever finish the series. Honestly, HL1 ended pretty strongly in its own right. “Wisely done, Mr. Freeman! I will see you up ahead.” Lots of unanswered questions, but not every damn thing in a story needs to be answered. HL2, eh… good game, but with the perspective of time, not the epochal achievement that its predecessor was.

Just wait guys, those STEAM boxes will be taking on real soon!